The present invention relates generally to hammers and, more particularly, to a magnetic hammer having object retrieval capabilities.
Conventional hammers have existed for many years. Typically, the hammer has a hammerhead that includes a flat face for striking an object, such as, for example, nails, tacks, brads or other similar fasteners. In addition, hammerheads also typically include a body and some form of connection mechanism for mounting the body to a handle. The hammerhead may also include a portion of the body formed into a claw that may be used, for example, to remove nails from a material in which the nail has been embedded. The typical use of a hammer is for driving objects into another material by aligning the object with the material and striking the object with the flat face such that the object is driven forcefully into the material.
Some forms of hammers also include the capability to maintain the object in a predetermined position on the hammerhead. The predetermined position of the object is such that the object may be driven into a material by striking the material with that part of the hammerhead where the object is positioned. The position of the object is typically maintained on the flat face of the hammer by a socket, a recess, a magnet or other similar mechanism capable of maintaining the position of the object. The purpose of such an object positioning mechanism may be to avoid manual alignment of the object with the material prior to striking the object with the hammer. Hammers that include magnets for maintaining the position of an object may also be capable of retrieving objects attracted to magnets.
A common occurrence when using a hammer is the need to retrieve multiple objects that cannot be easily grasped with one hand, recover dropped objects or retrieve objects that are positioned beyond easy reach. To retrieve such objects, a user of a conventional hammer must usually stoop or bend to manually grasp and retrieve the objects with his hand. Prior art hammers that include magnets that may be used to retrieve objects also include a specially designed and formed hammerhead to maintain objects in a predetermined position as previously discussed.
Specially designed and formed hammerheads typically require specialized manufacturing and tooling techniques that may increase manufacturing and assembly costs. In addition, other problems with durability and general functionality may also compromise reliable operation of the hammer. Accordingly a need exists for a hammer that is functional, durable, relatively simple and economical to manufacture and assemble, and includes the capability to retrieve objects.
The present invention discloses a magnetic hammer that overcomes problems associated with the prior art. The preferred embodiments of the magnetic hammer provide the functionality of a conventional hammer with the capability to retrieve objects. In addition, the magnetic hammer may be manufactured without special machining or other complex manufacturing requirements and is relatively easy to assemble.
The magnetic hammer of one embodiment includes a hammerhead, a handle and a magnetic material. The hammerhead and handle are coupled in a conventional configuration. The hammerhead forms a body that includes a cavity that extends from the top of the hammerhead to the bottom as in conventional hammerheads. The handle includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the handle extends into the cavity and is fixedly coupled therein. The magnetic material is also fixedly positioned within the cavity by an adhesive material. The magnetic material is fixedly coupled to the hammerhead such that the magnetic material forms a portion of the top of the hammerhead.
The preferred magnetic hammer may utilize a more or less conventionally designed hammerhead and handle with the addition of the magnetic material. Accordingly, existing hammer manufacturing and assembly processes remain almost unchanged. Further, since the magnetic material is formed to fit within the cavity of a conventional hammerhead, assembly of the magnetic hammer is relatively simple and economical. These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, viewed in conjunction with the appended drawings. The foregoing discussion has been provided only by way of introduction. Nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on the following claims, which define the scope of the invention.